How to find a Samsung Galaxy S4 (Updated)

The Samsung Galaxy S4 officially launched Saturday, April 27, but like most major hardware launches, availability has been an issue for a lot of carriers. The phone is expected to be out of stock pretty much everywhere for a while after launch, so if you’re on the hunt for one, check back here for updates.

Here, you’ll find ordering links for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless, and we’ll be updating it frequently over the next few weeks, as new ways to find the Galaxy S4 pop up.

AT&T (Available)

AT&T started shipping pre-orders on April 23. It costs $200 with a contract, or $640 without. You can order it on AT&T’s website or pre-order it at Best Buy. AT&T is set for an in-store launch on April 27.

UPDATE 4/29/13: The AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4 is available through the carrier’s site, as well as in their stores. In-store stock seems to be waning fast. Check the in-store availability link on the order page, and enter your zip code.

Sprint (Available)

You can pre-order the device at Best Buy, pre-order online at Sprint.com, and phone orders at 1-800-SPRINT1 began on April 27. It will run you $150 if you sign up for a NEW contract with Sprint and port your number from another carrier, $250 if you just renew or sign a contract, or $600 without a contract. However, Sprint issued a statement on April 24, that it was suffering inventory issues, and would have to wait till an undisclosed date to announce availability of in-store units.

UPDATE 4/29/13: Mark Elliot, Sprint’s Manager of Communications for Wireless Devices has sent us an official statement: We are pleased inventory for the new Samsung Galaxy S 4 is now flowing into Sprint sales channels. Our partners at Samsung are ramping up production and we expect additional inventory shipments on a daily basis.

T-Mobile (Available online)

On April 24, the Media Relations team at T-Mobile issued a statement that, due to an unexpected delay with inventory deliveries, the Galaxy S4 will not be available on www.T-Mobile.com as planned on Wednesday, April 24. Instead, online availability is expected to begin on Monday, April 29. You can sign up here to be notified when the Galaxy S4 becomes available from T-Mobile. It will cost you $150 down and $480 more bucks, which you can pay over the course of 24 months. Or you can pay $630 up front.

UPDATE 4/29/13: As expected, the Galaxy S4 is available through T-Mobile’s site, but online supply is expected to be short. If it sells out, you might have to wait for the in-store arrival, sometime in May.

UPDATE 5/2/13: GottaBeMobile has reported that, when reaching out to T-Mobile about the prospect of their getting versions of Samsung’s device with 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, they were given the vague answer of,“The T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 4 includes 16GB of internal memory with the option to expand memory up to 64GB with a MicroSD card, providing plenty of storage for movies, music, games and other application downloads.” So those hoping for anything above a 16GB model on T-Mobile might be out of luck.

Verizon Wireless (Available)

Pre-orders began on Thursday, April 25. Verizon will offer the Samsung Galaxy S4 for $200 after a $50 mail-in rebate. A Verizon PR rep said on April 24 that the Samsung Galaxy S4 will launch on May 30. You can sign up for Galaxy S4 updates directly from Verizon here.

UPDATE 5/2/13: GottaBeMobile has reported that Verizon has officially ruled out the Samsung Galaxy S4 with 32GB of internal storage, and almost certainly the 64GB model as well.

UPDATE 5/23/13: The Samsung Galaxy S4 is now available on Verizon Wireless.

U.S. Cellular

There’s been a good bit of confusion regarding this one it seems. As GottaBeMobile reports, U.S. Cellular apparently informed those put down pre-orders for the Galaxy S4 that the device would ship “approximately” four weeks after the pre-order date of April 16. It will run you $200 with a two-year contract and you can order it on uscellular.com. This contradicts an earlier statement that the device would, in fact, arrive in the month of April to U.S. Cellular subscribers. The team at that site evidently heard from a U.S. Cellular spokesperson that it “will have more information” soon.

UPDATE 4/29/13: Phandroid reports that the official in-store date for the U.S. Cellular Samsung Galaxy S4 is 4/30/13, but it’s available on the site right now.

UPDATE 5/2/13: GottaBeMobile has reported that U.S. Cellular has officially ruled out chances of the Samsung Galaxy S4 models with 32GB and 64GB of internal storage.

Cricket

As of April 24, Cricket has yet to offer any official word about the Samsung Galaxy S4. A Cricket salesperson and moderator for unofficial forum site Cricket Users posted on April 18 that he was headed into a meeting the following day and would get back to the thread soon, but he has yet to get back. That’s the fourth post down.

C Spire Wireless

C Spire announced on April 17 that it would be offering the Galaxy S4, along with a handful of exclusive apps. It didn’t provide a specific date, but C Spire subscribers can hit a link here to get notified whenever news hits.

Walmart

Christian Post reported on April 24 that Walmart would be taking pre-orders for the Galaxy S4 at the very low price of $168 dollars with a two-year contract. To get that deal, though, you’ve got to buy a $25 pre-order card. Once you’ve done that, your Walmart store will simply call you when your Galaxy S4 is in, but it won’t guarantee everyone who wants to get in on the deal will be able to. After you’ve got the phone, you’ve got to set up a contract with T-Mobile, AT&T, or Sprint. Once all that’s taken care of, the pre-order card is yours to use an any future purchase, and includes five dollars in Vudu credit.

Unlocked

The Christian Post reported on April 24 that the first eBay auctions for the unlocked Galaxy S4 at $740.

CNET also reported on April 24 that unlocked Samsung Galaxy S4s are “incredibly expensive at the moment,” and went on to note a contract-free, 16GB Galaxy S4 available for pre-order on Amazon for $870. As of April 24, by the way that link is sitting at a 1-star user rating, so buyer beware.

Mobile City Online is offering pre-orders on an unlocked 16GB model for $870, as well, with an expected arrival date of April 29.

UPDATE 5/23/2013: Added an update about the Samsung Galaxy S4 now being available on Verizon Wireless.

UPDATE 5/2/2013: Added updates to T-Mobile, Verizon, and U.S. Cellular – officially, none of them are getting the Samsung Galaxy S4 model with 32GB of internal storage, and almost certainly not the 64GB version.